Yatora is a slacker with little interest in school but manages to get good grades; good enough to keep his parents happy. Other than that, he’s aimless and lacks ambition. Until he meets Yuka, a member of the art club who reinvigorates Yatora’s interest in painting and he contemplates becoming a full time artist in the future.
It’s always a cook thing to watch someone find the activity that sparks their inspiration and just makes them feel alive. What I like about this manga in particular is it’s skips the “my friends mock/ditch me” part. Instead, the conflict comes from when your passion meets competition. Yatora is loving art and wants to find a future in it but there are so many others who are far ahead. I know from experience how discouraging that can be so I’m invested in this. 4.5 out of 5.
Do I even need to say how cool this is!? Because, wow, this stuff is awesome. At this point, I am really thinking that this subscription box is more fun than what I get from Loot Crate. If I had one complaint, the magnets I get in these boxes are not very strong. I put them up to hold a photo and it’s not strong enough to stay. Heck, I’m not even a fan of flavored lip balm but I love this one; it really is just the weak magnet.
What is also cool about this box is getting to know some Etsy sellers I wouldn’t have found on my own. I dunno if I’ll run and go shop there (because I’m broke) but there’s some pretty awesome stuff out there and I get to see it. I can’t wait to see what they send me next.
This image is from the Steampunk Coloring Book, which I picked up so I can practice with my colored pencils. There’s all sorts of advanced techniques for colored pencils and since that’s my chosen media for color, I thought using coloring books would give me a chance to try these techniques without having to first sketch my own art, then possibly ruin it because I screwed up applying the solvent or something.
With this picture I was experimenting with different color effects for folds in clothing and hair, and blending. It cakes some getting used to. It’s not just mashing the color down like I did when I was a child. It’s fun, though! And you can gt some really cool effects without using any solvents or computer coloring.
Of course this is my first outing with this and there are some imperfections. It will be a long time to get me near the level of the amazing art I’ve seen people create on YouTube. But, ya gotta start somewhere and for a n00b, this isn’t bad!
Since I was editing instead of working on Winter Boot, I come with a peace offering:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Here are the first two illustrated chapters of my novel; First Brood: Dreamhunter. These are only $.99 each and if you can’t wait for more, the link to the full novel on Amazon is right there (also available from Createspace and Nook). Illustrations are by the fabulous Melody Herbert over at Ragdoll Comics. 🙂
Remember waaaayyy back when I said I wanted to post some art to celebrate getting 110 fans to my page? I’m overdue. So, here it is:
Something strange and wonderful happens when me and Melody get together. XD I sketched this and as I am shit with color, Mrs. Herbert used colored pencil to color it. These two are my vampires from my book; Auris and Kizu having a little celebration.
I did foresee this happening to me but eh, cest la vie.
Since I can’t get to the bookstore to buy my favorite books, I have been getting them from Amazon. Since I also use Amazon to try and find the weird books I don’t find in book stores, my orders there have been getting stranger. I don’t mind it but it’s a serious departure from my buying habits.
I subscribe to Heavy Metal (some NWS images here, kids… In fact the whole site is Adult. Under 18? Don’t go.) and I LOVE some of the stories I see in them enough to buy the trades when I can find them. I own Requiem (and not just cause there are vampires in it) and now I’ve gone and purchased Sky Doll. Granted, I use credit card points and coupons out the yazoo to afford these things (feel free to buy my stories/books to support my addiction ~_^) but to have these books in my hands just makes me so damn happy.
And it is because Borders closed. Otherwise, I would have spent all my money IN the store and not have had enough money to spend on Amazon.
Yay for unintended consequences? :p
And there’s more. Because I’m looking at all these fucking AWESOME comics (and abusing the caps lock…) I feel the need to draw. How will I find time for this you say? By instituting a Drawing Night or two a week. And it’s in the Crackberry, so it’s law. I’d loooveee to update my ignored Deviant Art gallery…
Oh, and if you pop by that link and snoop through my gallery; yes, the pictures I have of Ciro and Tia and of Tia are what the characters look like. Yes, those are mouse ears. No relation to Mickey.
I figure if I’m able to really practice on a schedule, my skills will get back to snuff. Not to mention fill all the sketchbooks I have laying around the house. Nothing says “sad” like a shelf full of empty pages. I wanna scribble on ’em. >}
So in closing, the death of Borders has me buying more oddball comics and wanting to draw more. Good? Bad? Not sure. :p If it ends up in me posting little comic strips and sketches then it’s total win. 😉
I plan to watch that documentary tonight and reading the promos and looking at books along the same lines and it’s got me thinking: I don’t see much on women who have kids, work full time, and THEN try to cram their creative outlets in any spare few seconds they can find. Not that I’m the type to go scraping at new frontiers or look down on stay at home moms who try and fit their art in around their kids, but working full time with kids AND striving to keep your creative fire is an entirely different kettle of fish.
Who who the hell do I think I am? Ballz out, I want to say, "Whoever the fuck I want, bitchez!" Ahhh, if only life were that simple. First off, I LOVE my job. I don’t want to quit. In fact, the thought of quitting my job to pursue my dream is shooting myself in the foot. Librarianship is PART of my dream. It helps me be who I am as much as writing and drawing so why the heck would I give it up? And d00d, all the books I can get my grubby little hands on for FREE! I’d be stupid to give this up. Second, I don’t DO stay at home mom. I practically went batshit crazy on maternity leave and that was even with the hope of going back to work. You think the Lenni is crazy NOW, she’d be Yellow Wallpaper crazy under the yoke of housewifery. Other women can do it, I can’t. I like having a career. It makes me feel independent and useful.
I get a LOT of questions from other women in my life asking me how I was able to complete a novel, start another one, write a bevy of short stories, keep a full time job, have a side business, draw, and all the while being around the kid enough for her to still remember what I look like. And I have no idea. To try and figure that out (and as a cheap gimmick to pry more blog posts out of me) I’m starting Mommy Monday. The lovely trials and tribulations of how the bloody hell I manage all this with out being on mood elevators or booze.
There are many times in my life where I really just sit and wonder if there are any other women like me who not only have a Third Shift; but a fourth or quite possibly a fifth. If you find any, point them the way here. I’d certainly love to know who they are.
